


Hide and Seek

by lori_yuy



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:14:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25466098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lori_yuy/pseuds/lori_yuy
Summary: Aerith is bored and wanted to play when her mother got taken away yet again.  She certainly wasn't a shy or demure child! Slice of life scenes with a Turk she's had a love and hate relationship with.Turks and elevator shenanigans.Tseng and Aerith-centric. No romance.Rufus is Tseng's helpful friend...maybe.
Relationships: Aerith Gainsborough & Tseng, Cissnei/Tseng (Compilation of FFVII), Rufus Shinra/Tseng
Comments: 4
Kudos: 16





	Hide and Seek

Five year old Aerith gazed upon the grayness of the room with blasted boredom. Somewhere in the back of her mind, there used to be memories of a house. She isn't in a house now, just a room. She doesn't know when she first started living here, but this room is where her home is.

The only touch of color in here was a single wall. Art filled the largest open wall where she and her mother drew together. Little bits and pieces were added to it over time until it became an entire mural. Most of the flowers were drawn by Aerith while her mother had put in the art with the finer details.

There was a man with black hair who would always sit in the room with them and watch as they drew it out little by little. Tseng...he had watched them draw on many occasions but he was there for reasons other than just to watch the art take form. He usually came to accompany her whenever her mother was taken from the room, "for work" some adults in white coats told her before.

At the present moment, Aerith was bored out of her mind. Her mother had been taken "for work" again. Usually Tseng would have shown up soon after her mother goes, but today he wasn't there.

The last time he came by was a few days ago, he had brought her a fairy tale book, Little Red Ridinghood. He had read it to her then and when he was gone, she looked through the book on her own again. She couldn't help but think that Tseng looked like the big bad wolf with his dark hair and dark suit.

Aerith's thoughts were interrupted when someone opened the door. An adult she didn't know. The lady in a white coat placed a tray of food inside and turned around to leave again.

Aerith quickly bolted on her feet as the door to the room was closing and with the smallness of her body, squeezed out just in time and rolled into the hallway.

The lady that had put the tray inside was too preoccupied to notice and was already halfway down the hall. Aerith tiptoed towards the opposite direction following a series of EXIT signs until she ended up in an open hall with escalators. Large numbers in yellow painted on the wall said 64. The only way she could go looked to be down.

She had no idea where she was going, but she was going to go find Big Bad Tseng so she could play.

~...~

Tseng looked with disbelief as he read the company-wide mass mail that had popped up on his terminal.

"Lost child running loose in Recreational Facility - about 4 or 5 years old, yellow and white dress, green eyes, brown curly hair tied in pink hair ribbon. If she's yours, please claim ASAP. Cafeteria staff has blocked the exit doors to prevent escape."

He quickly accessed the building's cameras and flipped to the locked room in the labs.

"SHIT." He slammed down the urgent paperwork still in his hands and ran. Multiple Turks' heads popped up in curiosity at his panic.

Reno and Rude exchanged a look with each other.  
Across the table, Cissnei was eyeing the situation similarly. All three chuckled. The glorified babysitter had it rough.

The irritation was clear on Tseng's face as the elevator seemed to be stopping on every other floor from B3 to 63rd. Maybe it would have been faster if he ran up the emergency stairs instead. When his wits were almost at its end, the chime to 63rd floor finally sounded.

He knocked hard on the cafeteria doors.  
"Tseng of the Turks, on the case about the child on the loose." He announced in a commanding voice.

A staff member opened the doors for him to enter.

"Situation." he barked at the cafeteria staff.  
Even though they work in the same company, Turks are still feared amongst the general workforce within Shinra.

"Uh.....so a kid showed up about 20 minutes ago looking lost, said she was looking for a Big Bad Wolf named....OH...." The employee looked at Tseng again.

Tseng blinked. Big bad wolf named O?

"I think she was looking for you, she had mentioned you by name." the staff looked incredulously at the Turk who was in his teens. 

"Aren't you too young to be a father?" The glare Tseng sent his way shut the poor staff member up. "I meant...uh..."

"Where is the girl now?" Tseng pressed.

"She was last seen going under tables in a game of tag against the employees eating here. She caused quite a raucous...and last I heard, she had challenged someone to hide and seek."

Heck no. Not that Aerith was any good at hide and seek in his opinion, but this had started to happen more as Tseng had taken her out of the confines of her room recently. He had only brought her to the indoor gardens on the Conference Rooms floor however, as part of "inspirations for the Ancient".

"Keep the doors secured till I give okay to re-open." Tseng instructed as he strode into the spacious cafeteria.

He asked every single employee sitting around about the whereabouts of the little girl until he finally happened upon a sheepish looking dude standing in front of the lady's bathroom door. The guy looked suspicious, or at least, unsure.

"What's going on?" his voice made the guy jump in surprise.

"Oh. OH..Turks. .... a little girl had challenged me to hide and seek and ran into the women's bathroom..."

Tseng wanted to bang his head against the nearest wall. He took a deep breath then rapped on the bathroom door loudly. "TURKS INVESTIGATION, CLEAR OUT WITHIN THE NEXT 30 SECONDS."

A string of ladies filed out of the restroom giving him various looks of disapproval. Tseng then entered unabashedly as the poor guy outside stared in awe.

He looked through every stall. No signs of Aerith. He examined the vent entrance. There was no way she could have gotten up there on her own with her height even if she climbed up the toilets. He had just turned around when he heard a giggle coming from inside the cabinet under the sink.

"Heh....not very good at hide and seek, are we now?" He squatted down and opened the cabinet door.

Little green eyes peeked at him in surprise. "NO! GO AWAY! BIG BAD WOLF!"

He wasn't sure if he should be amused...the book he had given her the other day had apparently left an impression. Without a word, he pulled her out of the cabinet. "Let's go home."

She frowned at him. "I DON'T WANT TO! I WANT TO PLAY!"

He pushed his way out of the women's bathroom with her in his arms. The ladies and the man waiting outside the restroom, then the entire cafeteria, had eyes and ears on the pair as the little girl in the Turk's arms yelled non-existent threats on top of her lungs.

The Turk had the blase, uncaring expression on his face that most Turks were known for even though she was yelling directly in his ears. She was hysterical when she saw that he was still taking her away from her fun.

He stopped by the staff members at the door. "All clear, doors can be opened." The staff nodded as they let the Turk holding the screaming child out.

What a weird rare sight this was.

~...~

"Aerith....AERITH." She was still screeching, earning them curious looks the entire way down the hall. "If you'll be quiet and good I'll take you to the museum."

Negotiations was now on the table as Tseng didn't need a screaming toddler attracting the attention of everyone they passed.

"What's a museum?" she asked out of curiosity.  
"It's a big place where they show lots of things you've never seen before, this one has all kinds of machines, people, and even has a big TV where you feel like you're standing in everything you're seeing." He wasn't sure he could really explain virtual immersion to a five year old.

He successfully got her attention as she stopped screaming. "I want to see." she said sheepishly. Bingo. Goal accomplished, but now he has to fill his part of the promise.

The first thing she saw was a gold man. She made a face at him. "I know you!" she pointed at the statue. "You're old and ugly!"

Tseng snorted.

"Wow this one's weird." she commented as she examined the golden gun in the display case.

She then pointed at the portrait across the exhibit room of younger President Shinra on the wall. "Who's that?"

Tseng stared at the portrait in earnest. Honestly, nobody expected the old President to have looked that good in his youth.

He almost grimaced thinking what the son of the said man who has similar looks will be like in the future.

"That's the same man as the statue, just younger."

"NO WAY!!!" her disbelief was so pure it made him laugh.

The virtual displays of each Shinra executive did not impress Aerith. When Hojo's statue came on she almost ran. "NO, NOT HIM!"

Tseng had caught her just in time and pulled her into the visual entertainment hall.

Her eyes had popped and she clung to his legs for dear life as the 3D visuals made the floor disappear under her feet.

The exhibit was telling her the history of her people, but she was too young to really understand.

"It's SO PRETTY!!!!" she exclaimed wildly as the green fields dotted with colorful flowers bloomed into view, each leaf, each blade of grass, each petal of flower flowing past them in stunning details. Tseng glanced thoughtfully at the excited girl.

Would she have been able to communicate with the plants if they were real? He wondered.

~...~

When he finally got her back to the lab, the girl's mother was in the room.

She looked extremely worn out, more so than usual.  
She grimaced at the Turk accompanying her child but relief overtook her features when she saw that her little girl had been unharmed and even seemed to be happy.

Aerith's expressions went from smiles to a little frown as she observed her mother sitting on the bed.

"Mommy...are you okay?" Her mother smiled at her gently. Ifalna was tough if nothing else.

Little Aerith could not understand the pains and torments that Shinra puts her through, but even then the girl was still able to perceive that she was not well.

Ifalna did not wish to burden her daughter with the weight of what she carries alone.

"Aerith, where did you go today? Did you go out to play again?" She asked gently.

"I went to find Big Bad Tseng, I played tag with lots of people and then I played hide and seek. Tseng found me though! Oh and I saw lots of flowers in a museum!" she beamed at her mother.

The child's radiantly positive mood lifted Ifalna's own. Ifalna was actually very tired and felt sick with the chemicals that the scientists had injected into her.

She looked to the silent young Turk who had apparently put her child in a good mood.

He couldn't have been more than in his early teens given his baby face, but it was hard to tell with the serious expression he wore most of the time. He had spent a lot of time with the small family in the locked room.

She knew that he had looked after Aerith whenever she was gone, but didn't know how to feel about the fact that it was a Turk doing so.

She was initially very against it but seeing that Aerith had taken a liking to the guy, and he seemed like a genuinely decent guy, she was now thankful for the extra pair of eyes and helping hands to look after her daughter.

Still, she made sure to express her disapproval of the entire situation every time she could.

"Could you leave us alone now Tseng? I really should be spending time with my daughter." She sighed as she took Aerith from him. Ifalna hugged Aerith tightly as if she could lose her any day.

He nodded briefly. Aerith's eyes were still on him through her mother's embrace. He reached into his pocket. There was a miniature chocolate bar that he had bought for himself, but he decided the kid needed it more than he did.

When he left, he ensured the doors locked properly and there was no more escape attempts for the day.

"How was the babysitting stint?" Reno mouthed with a grin as he stepped back into the office.

"Just peachy." Tseng replied without looking at anyone in particular. Several snickers sounded around the office. His coworkers must have been peeking at the security footage again.

Cissnei grinned at him as he passed her on the way back to his desk. "A little excursion never hurt anyone Tseng. Good job quieting a crying kid. You'd make a good father." She at least understood his troubles, though her statement is making him a little uneasy.

"Though, I didn't think you were the type to run into the women's bathroom, you pervert." He growled in annoyance as she gave him a playful smack on the butt. Cissnei knew no personal space as his Turks partner. His face turned a light pink at her unashamed touch. The pile of paperwork on his desk looked like an oasis at the moment.

~...~

Red alerts went off on his screen as he was was attempting to compile his latest report. Tseng huffed a sigh then took a look at the notification.

"HOLY SHIVA, NOT AGAIN." he yelled when he pulled the latest security footage. There was the shadow of a little girl pushing her way out the door, leaving the room alarms blaring on full blast.

He took his PHS this time and ran through each camera feed along the way. Elevators were not his friend when in a hurry he reminded himself and took the stairs this time. He won't need to go to the gym today.

Security footage led him into the Corporate Archives.  
People were doing research in the quietness of the facility as he stepped in.

The archives are huge and labyrinthine.  
He searched every nook and cranny, disturbing people's research as he went. It didn't matter ultimately since nobody had the guts to complain about a Turk at work.

"Lost your precious kid again Tseng?" Tseng turned around at the familiar voice. A smirk on a face he knew greeted him.

"Rufus...Aerith!" He took notice of the little girl holding hands with the heir of the Shinra Electric Company. As bizarre as the image was, it was kind of cute.

"She told me she saw me in a museum." Rufus drawled.

"She's talking about your father." Tseng replied.

"I know....but she was adamant she saw me. Hahaha." Rufus burst into laughter and Aerith laughed with him.

Tseng had a distinct feeling Aerith didn't know what they were laughing about.

"I'll go with you." Rufus said with determination as Tseng took her other hand.

"If you'd like Sir, it's not that exciting, I'm just returning her to her room." Little did he know what he was in for.

They got on the nearest elevator. Tseng was about to press the button for the 64th floor when Aerith lashed out a hand and pressed B13, then reached up high and pressed 70. She then mashed her hands on every single button she can reach before Tseng stopped her, somehow just missing 64 barely.

Tseng pressed 64. The button did not light up.  
He looked at the button with annoyance and tried again. It still did not light up. The elevator started a rapid descent down to B13. Of course there wasn't anyone who would want the elevators to stop when he needed it to.

He contemplated what went wrong until it hit him.  
His damned coworkers must have hacked the elevator remotely and are probably laughing at him right now.

They heard an explosion at B13 as the elevator doors opened. Director Scarlet was up to something in her materia research lab again. The doors closed before they could hear anything else.

The elevator made its way back up, but surprisingly (or unsurprisingly if you were Tseng) didn't stop at any floors between B13 and 70th. Holy Gaia, is he going to have a word with his fellow Turks once this is over.

Rufus looked on with amusement.  
"Oh, wanting to check out the Executive Suite now are we?" he said as he tapped his ID card once the elevator reached the higher floors requiring proper access rights.

Rufus knew exactly what was going on with the elevators. It's not like Reno hasn't played this prank on him before.

"No we're not going there." Aerith looked disappointed as she caught a glimpse of the opulent floor that opened up in front of her eyes. Rufus waved at a very confused President Shinra and Director Heidegger as the elevator doors closed once again.

70...69...68...67...66...65...64...63.

Rufus observed Tseng's deadpan not-amused-at-all expression as the elevator doors finally opened up. They decided to get off here.

"Aerith...let's go home." He goaded as he herded her off the elevator. She gave him the pout of a lifetime.

"I want cake! I'm not going without cake." Her gaze was directed towards the desserts in the cafeteria display case. Tseng sighed.

"She's got negotiation skills." Rufus observed off-handedly. "I could use some cake myself, care to join me Tseng?"

They got dessert, on Tseng's dime.  
'I don't get paid enough for this.' Tseng thought to himself as he watched Rufus and Aerith down their dessert. He blinked as two simultanenous spoons were shoved in front of his face. They were sharing.

Aerith made him promise to bring her a new book before he left her to her mother.

They installed a door with a different kind of locking mechanism at his suggestion not soon after that. Tseng had since been assigned to take Aerith out on supervised excursions within the Shinra building to keep her fit physically, to keep her mind stimulated in case her Ancient blood line gave her ideas, and to keep her from destroying the room out of boredom.

Two years later, she escaped again, out of Shinra Tower and lost her mother in the process.

~...~

Aerith's thoughts were all over the place when she saw Tseng bleeding on the floor of the Temple. A large gash was cut across his torso and he looked like he was close to passing out. Sephiroth had been there.

She couldn't stop the tears flowing from her eyes. Why was she even crying? She was supposed to hate him, .... did she ever love him? No, she couldn't say she has, that would be weird. At least not in the romantic sense.

Family. Aerith had never really known family life.  
She doesn't remember her father and her mother had passed away when she was too young.

Tseng had been there most of her life, at least until last year when she left with her new friends. He was a constant in her life. Tseng was like her father, he was like her brother.

Tears now streamed down her face.

She did love him. He was her family.

The big bad wolf that she made him out to be in her youth was actually a soft sheep in wolf's clothing. The real big bad wolf was out there and she and her friends were on his trail.

She took one more look at him before she got up to brave the new realities alone.

"Tseng, I've got to go. Sephiroth is playing hide and seek."

**Author's Note:**

> Tseng's not actually dead, he's hurt but will recover. Aerith didn't know and had to leave him to chase down Sephiroth. 
> 
> Bored young Turks are bastards, especially Reno.
> 
> I'm portraying Cissnei's age to be only 1 or 2 years younger than Tseng since it wasn't ever given but I'm pretty sure she was a bit younger than him in actuality during Crisis Core.


End file.
